I can't believe i took so long to post this. This week has been a Nightmare.
Laptop died, then the internet wouldn't work. On top of that i've been sooo busy it's been stupid. Grr.
Sakura groaned as she was snatched away her sleep by someone shaking her. Not impressed in the least, she simply tugged the covers over her head and ignored her friends complaints. After all, her first lesson wasn't until after lunch and she had no intention of getting up until absolutely necessary.
"Sakura!" Hinata had seemingly resorted to the begging technique in order to rouse her friend.
"Nhmm..."
"He says he'll knock the door down if you don't go!"
Sakura sighed, I was way too early to be dealing with people. 'Is it too much to ask to sleep in? Really?' "Who?" She asked sleepily.
"...him"
"Who? Naruto?"
"N-no..." The dark haired girl really hoped Sakura wasn't the type to shoot the messenger "...it's S-Sasuke".
Sakura froze. 'Am I hearing things?' She rolled over and came from under her covers to face Hinata. "Please tell me you didn't just say that".
"He...I wouldn't let him in, b-but he won't go from outside". The blue haired girl looked worriedly at her friend who seemed to have paled considerably within the last few seconds. "A-are you ok?"
Sakura looked up at her friend who was still standing by the side of her bed. She felt sick. 'Sasuke. Why is he here? What does he want?' She felt a small tear break free without warning and trickle down her face. "No...I'm not ok. Not at all-"
A banging sounded from the direction of the front door, causing Sakura to tense. She didn't want him anywhere near her, not after what he'd tried to do. 'This is not happening' she thought, hoping that eventually he would get bored and go away.
"Sakura... What's wrong. You said you'd t-tell me..." Hinata moved to sit on the edge of the pinkettes bed before taking her friends hands in her own. "What happened?"
Part of her just wanted to curl up and die. To simply crumble away until she didn't exist. Yet another part of her kept reminding her of what she had decided the night before and deep down she knew - she couldn't let Sasuke win. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.
"Hina... when I went out this morning, I went to the gardens." She looked at Hinata who nodded for her to continue. "When I got there...S-Sasuke showed up...
a-and he..." She stopped to try and wipe her tears away but they were simply replaced with new ones. 'Fuck. Why is this so hard... I didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't my fault...'
"He what, Sakura..." The other girl sounded unusually serious. Just like the Hinata from the early morning.
"He...He tried t-to...r-r-...rape me". Tears cascaded down her face until her friend was just a blur. She was pulled into a tight hug and she felt Hinata gently stroke her hair while cradling her. After a few minutes the dark haired girls grip loosened until she slowly pulled back, recapturing her hands in her own. Her own pale silver eyes shone with unshed tears.
"Saku...Y-you said he tried..."
The pinkette nodded, sniffing. "Gaara stopped him".
"Gaara?"
Before Sakura could answer, there was another loud bang from the front door and Hinata's eyes flashed anger.
----
The raven banged on the door to Sakura's dorm. Despite what had occurred the night before he was certain, that with a little persuasion, the pinkette would see things his way and admit she was still blindly in love with him. 'After all' he thought, 'I always get what I want'
Getting irritated that the girl wouldn't come out to see him, he turned and looked out the window, across the school campus. For a Thursday morning, it actually seemed rather quiet. Usually the campus was littered with students trying to hand in various essays before the 12 noon. Thursday was deadline day. Lessons didn't start until after lunch and, since he had handed in his work the second the school staff dared open the doors, he had the morning to talk Sakura around.
A minute or so after turning to look across the campus he heard the dorm door swing open, at speed, and slam loudly again the wall. He smirked to himself 'Sakura...always so easy to annoy'.
He turned round the face the door and was rather surprised when he came face to face with a seething Hinata. If that was the word for it. The dark haired girl looked positively murderous, which almost made Sasuke ditch his Uchiha pride and run for the hills. Almost.
"Is Sakura planning on making me wait here all day. I've already told you I wont hesitate to let myself in" With some difficulty, he kept his voice the same as always. He sounded almost bored with the situation, even though he currently had holes being drilled through him, by the eyes of a livid Hyuga.
The petite girl simply stood there, glaring.
"Well, Hyuga? I hardly have all-" He was abruptly cut off when the dark haired girl suddenly jabbed her hand at the hollow of his throat, pushing him off balance and causing him to fall backwards on to the floor. It was at this point he realised, with panic and confusion, that he couldn't breathe. 'What the...how...'
"How long can an Uchiha hold his breath, Sasuke?" She asked the raven, who was currently sat on the floor, wide eyed and struggling to breathe.
His eyes flickered up to the girl staring down at him. 'Hinata? The quiet girl that blushes every time that dobe Naruto goes near her? She just...' He broke his thoughts when he saw a flicker of movement down the hall.
The anger left Hinata face as she too saw the new arrival. "N-Neji...I..."
The male Hyuga approached, bearing a somewhat amused expression. "Hinata, go back inside." He gave her an almost invisible smile. Secretly he was proud of her. It was him who trained her in pressure point attacks, although she never seemed to catch on when they trained. He had to admit, he had been rather surprised to witness his overly shy cousin practically rip a door off it's hinges, before physically attacking someone.
"But...o-okay..." she retreated, quickly, back into the dorm, shutting the door softly behind her.
Neji smirked down at the raven. "Hinata just hit one of your pressure points. Lucky for you, she doesn't have the heart to kill someone and only partially compressed your windpipe. You'll be able to breathe properly soon, just don't try and force it".
Trying not to panic, Sasuke attempted to stay calm. After what seemed like an eternity he slowly felt his throat ease up slightly and he was able to take in a slow breath of air. A few minutes later he was able to breathe almost normally.
Neji simply stood watching him as he recovered. Behind his stoic expression, he found the Uchiha's recent situation hilarious.
Sasuke slowly got back to his feet, before staring back the Hyuga who was obviously trying to hide his amusement. "Whatever, Hyuga" he stated in his usual, cold tone before turning to walk away. He was rather annoyed. 'First I get attacked by the Hyuga girl and now I'm leaving without Sakura. Well, if my little flower won't be civil, then I won't be either...'
The brown haired boy watched the Uchiha walk away, apparently deep in thought. He had intended to ask how the hell he managed to get Hinata so mad, but he could ask her instead, even if he had to put up with her stammering. It was something he wanted to know, if only to warn Naruto what not to do to his cousin. In all honesty, he preferred the blonde alive.
----
Inside the dorm, Sakura and Hinata had changed roles. The dark haired girl was sat on the small sofa staring into space while her friend hurriedly made her a cup of tea. The pinkette had barely had the chance to blink before Hinata had rush from the bedroom and slammed open the front door to confront the raven. Sakura had watched it all from the top end of the dorm hallway. She'd seen her friend angry before but that...that was something else entirely.
"Hina...?" Carefully she sat down next to the girl and handed her the cup of tea. "Are you ok?" The girl nodded slowly, apparently dazed by the experience, before taking a small sip of the tea.
"I...I just..."
A small click from the hallway signified the entrance of the 2nd Hyuga, who swiftly made his was round the room divider. Although Neji wouldn't say it, he cared rather deeply for his cousin and so wanted to ensure she wasn't in danger of having a mental breakdown over what had happened. Hinata did nothing but continue to sip at her tea, knowing he was probably looking at her - one eyebrow raised in question - as he prepared his interrogation.
She said a silent 'thank you', to which ever godly entity saw fit to save her, when Sakura stood up and shuffled the male Hyuga into the hallway, where they could talk. Sometimes, Hinata was sure the pinkette forgot that sound travels more that a few feet. The dark haired girl continued to sip her tea.
"What did Sasuke do to my cousin?" Neji. Hinata smiled slightly at the concern in his voice. She wished he didn't act so...cold, but that was how he was. He had his own way of caring.
"Nothing..." And Sakura. Her long time best friend... who seemed to think that Neji would accept an explanation of 'nothing'. Hinata had come to the conclusion a while ago that if Sakura hadn't been a pinkette, she was a definite candidate for being blonde.
"Sakura, Hinata just physically attacked that damn Uchiha. We both know Hinata wouldn't resort to attacking someone unless something serious had happened"
"He didn't do anything to Hinata. He...upset me..."
"Upset you? Saku-" A slight hint of irritation ran through the males voice. He was obviously expecting a full explanation. Hinata put her cup down and made her way towards the hall.
"I'm not going into details, so please...don't ask.
"I already as-"
"N-Neji...um..." The female Hyuga looked like a rabbit caught in headlights as the two others turned to her "Please...c-can you just...l-leave it..." She looked down at the floor, though she could still feel them both looking at her.
"Fine" He agreed, obviously not impressed at being told to drop the subject. The pinkette glanced between the two before putting on a small smile.
"Neji, I have to go out for a little while... could you keep and eye on Hinata?" He raised an eye brow at the pinkette.
"She's not a child, Haruno" She sighed, rolling her eyes.
"No, but after what just happened I'd rather not leave her alone. I won't be long"
"Fine, I needed to speak with her anyway" both girls looked at him with concern "Not about that."
Sakura gave him a small smile before running off to the bedroom to get changed out of her PJ's, leaving the cousins in the hall. When she reappeared ten minutes later the Hyugas had moved back into the living room and were talking quietly between themselves. The pinkette quickly pulled her boots on, which were covered by her long baggy jeans, waved a quick goodbye to the two in the living room and left the dorm, shutting the door with a slight bang behind her. She glanced round, making sure there was no sign of a certain raven, before setting of in no particular direction. She hadn't really needed to go anywhere but figured that Hinata and Neji needed to talk. Family talk.
----
Gaara was not happy. Not in the slightest. In fact, to say the red head was annoyed would be a vast understatement.
It was still morning and the Uchiha had already done two things that displeased Gaara. 1) He banged on Sakura's door loud enough to break the red head's concentration and bring him out of meditation. 2) Sasuke seemed to think that he could go near Sakura, even after the previous events. The latter bothered Gaara greatly.
So now, he was silently shadowing the pinkette as she walked towards the library. Why? He didn't really know. Honestly. 'I have not developed feelings for the girl. I am not following her to make sure she is safe, because I care. I do not care. Not at all'.
Shukaku laughed within the dark depths of his mind, seemingly amused at, what the demon called, Gaara 'denial'. He wasn't in denial. He couldn't care for people. Never had and he wasn't starting now. He continued to follow the pinkette, watching her hips sway slightly as she walked before snatching his eyes away and berating himself, causing the sand demon to laugh again wile muttering something about 'stupid boy', 'denial' and 'pinky'.
"What was that, demon?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all."
The red head let out an irritated sigh before flicking his eyes back to the girl, finding that she had stopped and was 'talking' to another girl. The one that had labelled him a 'freak' the second he stepped into the class.
"What ever, forehead. I'll do what I like."
"Fine, Ino-pig. I was just trying to warn you. I wish I hadn't bothered now."
"Your not the only one! I don't need your help, Sa-ku-ra, I can handle myself."
"Ok, Ino, whatever you say." At this the pinkette moved to walk past the blonde, conversation over. Or not...
"You should be warning yourself, forehead." The pinkette turned around
"What?"
"Well, I'm not the one with some weird red haired freak watching me like a hawk."
It was now that Gaara realised that he was stood pretty much out in the open, not hidden in the slightest. He glared at the blonde, who took an involuntary step back under his gaze, until he suddenly had a smaller, pink haired, person trying to squeeze him to death, via a hug. He decided to ignore Ino in favour of looking down at Sakura, eyebrow raised in question. It was a few seconds before the girl seemed to realise that yes, she was in fact hugging Gaara and released him, taking a few steps back. Amazingly, he found himself struggling to hide a smile.
"Uh...Hi, Gaara." She smiled sheepishly. What had made her dive for the boy was a mystery to her, especially since she knew he wasn't big on 'touching'.
"..." he said nothing in reply, just stood watching her, a small smirk playing on his lips as usual. In the background, the blonde snorted before walking off.
"I... sorry." The pinkette blushed. "Just... saying thanks for last night..." He nodded in acknowledgement before turning slightly and signalling for her to follow.
So...OOC Hinata, kinda. I dunno. Chakra points - pressure points, same difference
Comment please. If you think Hinata is a little too ...not Hinata, tell me :) I like to know if i've messed up.
And no...this isn't going to be a 'everyone-hurt-sasuke' fic. lol
xxx
Anyway, finally got i posted. This is... kinda... a filler chapter.
Much Love - Kitty xx
